The Book of James – Part 6:
Faith and Works
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
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SERMON INTRODUCTION
Many
times over the years, I have heard those who lay claim to faith, and exclaim
with all assurance of their future home in heaven, while at the very same time,
they live here on earth in a selfish, self-centered existence contradictory to
scripture. They live a life that falls very short of glorifying the Lord.
While
words are easy to say, claims easily made, the Word of God tells us that if we
truly have faith, we will have a natural response to God by glorifying Him with
our lives and how we live.
Those
who claim faith, and to belong to the Lord, yet do not live in accordance to
God’s Word, not being doers of the Word in their lives, are spiritually dead,
and have no place in the Kingdom. They are in desperate need of salvation and
True Conversion.
Grace
is where our salvation lies, but if our faith in the Lord is not followed by
the deeds in our lives, that faith is worthless and dead!
Anyone
can claim the Lord and Faith, but those who truly have faith will respond to
the Word of God by living a life pleasing to the Lord, and be a true reflection
of God and His mercy in this world.
James
poses a question deep within the Word of God in this letter to the twelve
tribes who have claimed to believe the Word, and have faith.
We
too, should read this, and ask ourselves this very same question, looking deep
into our faith, and our lives and how we live them.
Deeds
are simply our response to our faith in God and His Word.
A
response is any behavior that results from an external (God’s
Word) or internal (God’s Spirit) stimulus.
James’
question to you today in the Word of God is;
Do
you have “proper” faith, and are you responding properly to that faith?
LAST WEEKS SERMON
Part 1 - Faith and Wisdom
Part 2 - Poverty and Riches
Part 3 - Endurance
Part 4 - Christian Living
Part 5 - Brotherly Love
TODAY’S SERMON
Part 6 - Faith and Works
SCRIPTURE READING
James
2:14-26
14
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but
has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a
sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to
them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their
physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by
itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show
me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the
demons believe that—and shudder.
20
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21
Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he
offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and
his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to
him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see
that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
25
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for
what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a
different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so
faith without deeds is dead.
I.
TO CLAIM AND NOT
SHOW
a.
James asks, v14 “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have
faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?”
i.
Remember last week we talked about the difference of
having faith in the first aid poster, and acting on it?
ii.
Illustration - “Suppose a brother or a sister is without
clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace;
keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good
is it?”
iii.
Conclusion - “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not
accompanied by action, is dead.”
iv.
James makes it clear...there is no need to seek the
concordance, study guides or theological manuscripts and papers to try and
decipher what is being said here...if your so called “faith” is not followed by your actions...it
is DEAD!
b.
We see far too many
examples of this in the world, and even more in the church.
i.
Too many religious people think that their “good deeds”
make up for their bad deeds in life, or their good deeds quantify their
relationship with the Lord.
1.
This is not scriptural, not Christian at all...this is
actually Hindu/Buddhist belief in karma, that good deeds bring good in your
life, while bad deeds bring bad.
a.
The scriptures teach us the exact opposite, saying do
not judge a person’s relationship with the Lord by the things that may happen
to him in this life. For example, Paul
suffered much, and the Book of Acts tells us, many judged him and said he was
an enemy to God because of this suffering...but it was the exact opposite. It was because he was a friend to God, and an
enemy to this world.
b.
If karma were true, Jesus and the apostles and prophets
would not have suffered so much in life...for they did good deeds continuously.
c.
If karma were true...all those people complaining
saying “I don’t worry about the wrong
they did to me, karma will get them.”, excuse me, if karma were true, the
bad stuff they did to you, you deserved, so, that belief in karma actually
shows karma is a contradiction to itself and impossible to exist.
ii.
Some also believe that good deeds bring them closer to
the Lord...This too is not scriptural, nor Christian.
1.
Our salvation is based solely on Jesus Christ taking
sins penalty. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
2.
He alone is our savior from sin (John 1:29)
3.
He is the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews
12:2)
4.
The work necessary to provide salvation was fully
accomplished by Jesus Himself, who lived a perfect life, took God’s judgment
for sin, and rose again from the dead. (Hebrews 10:12)
5.
Titus 3:5 makes it clear, “not because of righteous things we had done...”
iii.
You can “DO” works and good deeds until you are blue in
the face, and unless it is in response to faith in God’s Word, it is useless.
c.
Scripture teaches
us about works and faith.
i.
Works destroys
grace (and grace is where salvation comes from) (Romans 11:6) = dead works
And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were,
grace would no longer be grace.
Stimulus
- If
your works are to obtain salvation, reward, praise, then it is not accepted
because it is not in response to God’s Word or Spirit.
Our
Faith - becomes our ability, doing things of ourselves
instead of through the Lord and the Spirit which is supposed to dwell within
us.
Your Deeds/works/action/response
- may
be good, but if not motivated by God’s Word or Spirit, then you are just a kind
philanthropist, and no closer to God.
Results
- you
may receive the praise of men (and if you have, you have already received your
reward Matthew 6:2)
1.
Grace is God’s giving us something we cannot earn or
deserve. According to Romans 11:6, “works” of any kind
destroys grace—the idea is that a worker earns payment, while the recipient of
grace simply receives it, unearned. Since salvation is all of grace, it cannot
be earned. Faith, therefore, is a non-work. Faith cannot truly be considered a
“work,” or else it would destroy grace.
2.
Think of the first aid poster. You have faith in it. Your action when someone is choking saves
them, and your action COMPLETED your faith.
a.
HOWEVER, if you have faith in the first aid poster, and
did nothing when the man choked, he would die and your faith in the poster
(although everything in the poster is TRUE) is useless!
b.
In the same way, If you have faith in the first aid
poster, because what it says is true, and, not being motivated by what the
poster says “If someone is choking”, and you go and try to Heimlich the guy
sitting next to you, YOU DID THIS on your own, you would not see good results.
c.
The words in the first aid poster must be the motivator
“if someone is choking”, and your faith in the truth of the poster is then put
into action, you will see reward! You will save a life.
3.
Remember, our deeds, action, works, whatever you want
to call them, is a response to external (God’s Word) or internal (God’s Spirit)
stimulus! It CANNOT be a response to our desire to obtain something...or we are truly putting our faith into our
ability, and ourselves.
a.
Works without faith, are to obtain rewards...whether those
rewards be a closer relationship with God, forgiveness for a sin or bad deed,
or for the praise of being a good or “holy” person.
4.
Suppose someone anonymously sent me a check for
$1,000,000. The money is mine if I want it, but I still must endorse the check.
In no way can signing my name be considered earning the million dollars—the
endorsement is a non-work. I can never boast about becoming a millionaire
through sheer effort or my own business savvy. No, the million dollars was
simply a gift, and signing my name was the only way to receive it. In the same
way, exercising faith is the only way to receive the generous gift of God, and
faith cannot be considered a work worthy of the gift.
ii.
Faith without works
= dead
1.
Faith itself is NOT a work, but that faith MUST bring
fruit, which is the good fruit of deeds.
Stimulus
- External
(God’s Word), Internal (God’s Spirit) - PROPER STIMULUS
Our
Faith - In
God’s Word or Spirit, not ourselves
Deeds/works/action/response
- none
taken
Results
- none
2.
Nothing from nothing leaves nothing....
a.
The old Billy Preston song...
b.
Faith without works is dead...the proper stimulus is
there, the faith is there, but it goes no further.
iii.
Works in response to faith = righteousness! (PROPER FAITH &
WORKS)
1.
The following is the Scriptural process of Faith &
Works
Stimulus
- External
(God’s Word), Internal (God’s Spirit)
Our
Faith - In
God
Deeds/works/action/response
- Good
fruit produced in our lives
Results
- Faith
that is ALIVE & and our deeds counted as RIGHTEOUSNESS!
2.
This is the proper stimulus, faith, action and result!
iv.
Ask yourself with
this understanding, am I living righteously?
II.
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE
a.
v18 addresses the fact that there are
currently millions in this world who believe faith in God is enough...but there
is no saving grace in believing there is a God!
i.
You believe in the one true God...good! Even the demons believe that and shutter.
b.
James continues and gives biblical illustrations to
help the readers understand how righteousness comes from faith acted out.
i.
v21-24 “Was
not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his
son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions
were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was
credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24
You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith
alone.”
1.
Examine Abrahams Faith
Abraham’s Stimulus
- External
(God’s Word) or Internal (God’s Spirit)
Abraham’s Faith - In God
Abraham’s
Deeds/works/action/response - OBEDIENCE
The Results - Faith that is
ALIVE & made COMPLETE, and credited to him as RIGHTEOUSNESS!
2.
And he was called God’s friend...not the worlds friend,
but God’s Friend
3.
Remember James 4:4 last week? “You adulterous
people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?
Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of
God.”
III.
THE PROPER RESPONSE
TO GOD’S WORD
a.
This is the PROPER response to God’s Word!
CONCLUSION
Proper
faith, which is ALIVE will produce good fruit in our lives. We will live in accordance to the scripture,
and our lives will be a reflection of our faith, which is made complete through
our works.
And
that work which is done in proper response to God, will be credited to us as
RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Stimulus - External (God’s
Word), Internal (God’s Spirit)
Our Faith - In God
Deeds/works/action/response
- Good
fruit produced in our lives
Results - Faith that is
ALIVE & and our deeds credited as RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Are you living righteously?
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